Samuel Zacharius Dormits (nickname Sally) spent part of his youth in South-America. After his return to the Netherlands, he left for Spain, where he fought as a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War. He was a confirmed communist.
After his return from Spain, Dormits started a business in radio components in The Hague. He organised the Dutch People's Militia, a Rotterdam sabotage group attached to the Dutch Communist Party. He received help from Sara van Gigh, who he ended up living with.
He was arrested on 17 October 1942 in the Statenweg in Rotterdam while trying to steal a woman's handbag (probably to obtain an identity card for his girlfriend). He was taken to a police presinct, where he shot himself in the head. He died a few hours later in the Coolsingelziekenhuis.
NIOD, Erelijst Verzet en Koopvaardij, database made by J.W. de Leeuw;
B. Braber, Zelfs als wij zullen verliezen. Joden in verzet en illegaliteit in Nederland 1940-1945 (Amsterdam, 1990) 112-113;
L. de Jong, Het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden in de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Deel 6. Juli ’42-Mei ’43 (Den Haag 1975), 69-70, 168-172
Biography